New Delhi: Heated exchanges took place in the Rajya Sabha on Monday between ruling and opposition benches, as Leader of Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge sought to raise the issue of their protest against the Election Commission of India, but Leader of House J P Nadda objected, saying it was not related to the business being taken up by the House at that time.
The Upper house, which has been witnessing repeated adjournments and disruptions over the issue of Special Intensive Revision (SIR) in Bihar, was adjourned soon after the meeting at 11 am.
When the House reassembled at 2 pm, Opposition MPs, who had been detained and taken to the Parliament Street Police station after they attempted a march to the Election Commission headquarters and were stopped en-route, were not present.
The Rajya Sabha took up the discussion on the Manipur Appropriation Bill, 2025, and The Manipur Goods and Services Tax (Amendment) Bill, 2025.
Opposition MPs reached the House as the debate was going on, and Kharge sought to raise the issue of their protest march to the EC. This led to an uproar from the treasury benches, and Leader of House J P Nadda urged the Chair not to record anything unrelated to the Manipur Bills.
Sasmit Patra, who was in the Chair, said anything that is not a part of the Bill will not go on record, triggering uproar from the Opposition benches.
Congress leader Pramod Tiwari raised a point of order, and said the Leader of the House should not decide what will go on record.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman replied to the debate on the Bills amid sloganeering.
Deputy Chairman Harivansh was presiding the House as the two money Bills related to Manipur were returned to the Lok Sabha. As some opposition MPs sought to raise points of order, they were not allowed by the Chair citing disruptions in the House.
Opposition MPs continued raising slogans against SIR, and many were in the Well of the House, as The Merchant Shipping Bill, 2025 was taken up.
Surendra Singh Nagar, who was in the Chair, then allowed Kharge to speak.
The Leader of Opposition questioned how Bills were being passed in din.
“Please clarify this, the Leader of the House is also here, when the House is not in order, and Bills are being passed, how can this happen in democracy. The House should be in order to have a discussion… This is a betrayal of democracy,” he said.
Nadda, in reply, said, “As the LoP said, democracy should be protected, but this House cannot be held hostage. After all, it was discussed in BAC that the Bills will be passed. Today, I am shocked at the role of the Opposition.”
“Those who were talking about Manipur for the last two years, when the Bills were being passed, they were opposing it,” Nadda said.
Nadda’s remarks irked opposition MPs, who staged a walkout from the House. The House was also adjourned for ten minutes amid uproar, before it resumed proceedings at 3 pm.
Kharge later tweeted a video from his intervention in the House, and said, “Today, the MPs of the INDIA alliance were going to the Election Commission with a memorandum. But we were stopped, not allowed to meet the Election Commission.”
